Panchvada, Jasdan, Rajkot Livelihoods & Empowerment
From no income of her own to ₹8,000 a month
Shitalben Desani could not work outside the home. She now has two incomes inside it — as a Krishi Sakhi and as an artisan.
Shitalben Sanatbhai Desani is 35, and lives in Panchvada village in Jasdan taluka with her husband and two children, in Grades 7 and 2. The household ran on one income — her husband’s, from diamond craftsmanship in Jasdan.
Stretching a single modest income across household costs and two children’s schooling was getting harder every year. Working outside the home was not realistically available to her: chores and a young child made sure of that.
So the constraint was specific. Not “no jobs” — no jobs she could physically take.
Two answers, both at home
Shitalben came into contact with SSKK through digital literacy and nutrition training, and said plainly that she wanted her own income. Guided by the team — particularly Harshaben — she was given the chance to serve as a Krishi Sakhi at taluka level, promoting natural farming practices. That role carries a monthly honorarium of ₹5,000.
Alongside it, SSKK supplied raw materials and tools for home-based imitation jewellery work, which earns her about ₹100 a day — roughly ₹3,000 a month — fitted around the housework.
What changed
₹0 to ₹8,000 a month, from two independent streams rather than one.
The number matters less than its shape. A homemaker with no personal income became a woman with a leadership role in her taluka and a trade of her own, without leaving the house that was the constraint in the first place.